A drug-addled driver with a history of DUI charges that were previously dismissed by prosecutors slammed her SUV into a Los Angeles Metro bus Tuesday, killing two passengers — and the body count from lenient charging policies keeps climbing.
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down DeSoto Avenue, ran a red light at high speed, and plowed into the Metro Line 166 bus in Chatsworth just after 5 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The impact fully ejected one passenger and partially ejected a second. Daniel Castillo, 46, died on the bus. Gage Weida, 31 — described by his family as a selfless man with a "heart of gold" who was heading to work — died on the street after being thrown from the bus. Five others were injured.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Thursday charged Rios with two counts of second-degree murder, DUI causing injury, and reckless driving. She faces life in prison. Investigators found narcotics in her car — suspected methamphetamine and paraphernalia, sources told the California Post — and prosecutors say she was on "legal, hard drugs" at the time of the crash.
Here is the part the establishment press buries: Rios had prior DUI charges that were dismissed. Court records show previous charges of driving under the influence, drug possession, and carrying drug paraphernalia were all tossed, according to NBC News. She was convicted only of misdemeanor drug possession in 2015 and driving on a suspended license in 2022. The New York Post reports she also had prior cases for speeding, driving without a license, burglary, and shoplifting. Rios' uncle told Fox 11 she battled drug addiction for 15 years. A friend said she texted him hours before the crash admitting she was "honestly scared" and associating with people she shouldn't be around.
Every time a repeat offender with a dismissed DUI kills someone, the same question surfaces: who decided not to prosecute? The dismissals occurred under the tenure of former DA George Gascón, whose progressive charging policies routinely reduced or dropped DUI and drug offenses. Hochman, who defeated Gascón in 2024, called the crash a "preventable tragedy" — a concession that the system failed before Rios ever got behind the wheel Tuesday.
Rios missed her Thursday arraignment due to a medical event and remains hospitalized on $4.03 million bail. In a grim twist, an NBC4 news helicopter covering the bus crash lost altitude and plunged into a nearby warehouse lot, killing reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and bystander Edy Gutierrez Mejia. Hochman said his office will wait for the federal investigation into the helicopter crash before deciding whether to add charges.
Weida's parents were planning to visit for his birthday this weekend. "Instead, they're not going to be coming out for his birthday — they're coming out for his funeral," Hochman said. Two men dead, a public transit rider's family shattered, and the prior DUI charges that might have stopped all of it sit in a court file marked dismissed.
